The Swiss Alps and their mountain hotels
Luxury hotels in Swiss Alps
18 hotels
The Swiss Alps are not one place but a ring of valleys, each with its own idea of the mountain hotel. The ring runs from the palaces of Gstaad and the lake at Lucerne to the Matterhorn and the baths of Bad Ragaz. Gstaad, in the Bernese Oberland, keeps the palaces: turreted, century-old, open for the ski season and the height of summer. Lake Lucerne keeps the Belle Époque, on the shore in the city and on the ridge of the Bürgenstock, reached by boat and funicular. The Valais keeps the peaks — Zermatt under the Matterhorn, car-free Saas-Fee ringed by four-thousanders, Crans-Montana on its sunny terrace with a Jack Nicklaus course — and Graubünden keeps Arosa and the thermal villages of Bad Ragaz and Vals, where the oldest Swiss cure, the bathing cure, is still taken. Two seasons: December to April on the pistes, June to September on the lakes and trails; several houses close in between.
The neighborhoods
Gstaad
The Saanenland resort in the Bernese Oberland, with its century-old palaces on the hill and in the village. It takes in the ski areas of Gstaad, Saanen and Schönried and the Montreux–Oberland railway, and lies about ninety minutes from Bern and two and a half hours from Geneva.
Lake Lucerne & Bürgenstock
The lake at the heart of Switzerland, from the Belle Époque quays of Lucerne to the ridge of the Bürgenstock. The ridge is reached by boat and funicular; Vitznau lies under the Rigi, Pilatus across the water, and Zurich airport about an hour away.
Interlaken
The town between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, at the foot of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Mönch. Here stand the grand hotels of the Höheweg, and from here the railways run up to Grindelwald and Wengen; the town is about an hour from Bern and two from Zurich.
Zermatt & Saas-Fee
The two car-free villages of the upper Valais: Zermatt under the Matterhorn and Saas-Fee, the Pearl of the Alps. Zermatt is reached by train from Täsch; Saas-Fee is ringed by four-thousand-meter peaks. Both are about three hours from Geneva and Zurich.
Crans-Montana
The sunny terrace above the Rhône valley in the Valais, with its Jack Nicklaus golf course. Here too are the pistes of the Plaine Morte and the chalet hotels of Plans Mayens, about two hours from Geneva.
Arosa
The resort at the end of the Schanfigg valley in Graubünden, on its two lakes at 1,800 meters. Here stand the Sixties grand hotel and Europe's highest golf course; the railway comes up from Chur, and Zurich is about two hours away.
Grand Resort Bad Ragaz · Bad Ragaz & Vals — Valanagut · CC BY-SA 4.0Bad Ragaz & Vals
The thermal towns of eastern Switzerland: Bad Ragaz in the Rhine valley and Vals up its side valley in Graubünden. Bad Ragaz keeps its spring-fed bathing halls, Vals Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals; both are one to two hours from Zurich.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in the Swiss Alps?
Three. The five-star houses we list in the Swiss Alps are Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa, the resort on the ridge above Lake Lucerne; The Alpina Gstaad, the 2012 chalet-palace with its Six Senses spa; and Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, the bathing-cure grand hotel of 1868 on its own hot spring. Beside them we keep fifteen four-star addresses, each listed exactly at the tier it holds: in Gstaad, Gstaad Palace and Le Grand Bellevue; on Lake Lucerne, Hotel Villa Honegg, Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern and Park Hotel Vitznau; in Interlaken, Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa; in Vals, 7132 Hotel; in Arosa, Tschuggen Grand Hotel and Valsana Hotel Arosa; in Crans-Montana, Guarda Golf Hôtel & Résidences, Hostellerie du Pas de l'Ours and LeCrans Hotel & Spa; and in Zermatt and Saas-Fee, CERVO Mountain Resort, Matterhorn FOCUS and The Capra.
Where to stay in the Swiss Alps — Gstaad, Lake Lucerne, Zermatt or Crans-Montana?
Gstaad for the grand hotel in its classic form, dressing for dinner and a ski area shared with Saanen and Schönried, about ninety minutes from Bern and two and a half hours from Geneva; Lake Lucerne for the Belle Époque and the water, an hour from Zurich airport, with the Bürgenstock ridge above it for the views and the Alpine Spa; Zermatt for the Matterhorn itself, a car-free village reached by train from Täsch, and Saas-Fee for the same quiet on a smaller scale; Crans-Montana for the sunny terrace above the Rhône, golf in summer and wide pistes in winter; Arosa at the end of its valley for a modern grand hotel gone year-round; Interlaken between its two lakes for the Jungfrau; and Bad Ragaz or Vals for the waters — the ornate bathing hall of the Grand Resort and Peter Zumthor's Therme Vals.
When is the best time to visit the Swiss Alps?
Two seasons. Skiing runs from December to April, with the deepest snow in February and the longest days in March; summer runs from June to September on the lakes, the passes and the trails, with July and August the warmest and September the clearest. Several houses close in the shoulder months — Gstaad Palace and Guarda Golf open only in winter and summer — while the lake hotels, Bad Ragaz and Vals run all year; the houses keep their calendars on their pages.
How do I get around the Swiss Alps?
By train, mostly: Switzerland's railways reach every zone here, Zermatt only by train from Täsch, the Bürgenstock by boat and funicular from Lucerne, Arosa by the line from Chur, Gstaad by the Montreux–Oberland line. Zurich airport serves Lucerne, the Bürgenstock, Bad Ragaz and Arosa in one to two hours; Geneva serves Gstaad, Crans-Montana, Zermatt and Saas-Fee in two to three; Bern is closest to Gstaad and Interlaken. The houses organize airport transfers on request.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
